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Logan Petlak

~ Lifelong Learner.

Logan Petlak

Monthly Archives: May 2016

Games, technology and student learning and well-being

26 Thursday May 2016

Posted by loganpetlak in ECI 830, Uncategorized

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

causation, correlation, diablo II, gamification, gaming, health, ragnarok online, starcraft, technology

Self-proclaimed gamer and technology-user

I frequently play games through a variety of technological mediums. Physical skill, board, console, computer, mobile, you name it. I was raised in the gamer generation and have learned a lot from it to apply to the real world. Conversely I also spend a lot of time aware of how much activity I get per day and the food I consume. Combining these, I am a big believer in the gamification of learning and living. What I learned from play has translated to success in the workplace and health. I think that play engages students greatly and the modern means of that engagement dominantly occur through technology. Games connect us with others and challenge us to complete goals. But games, like sports, have a dark side to them… and it may be that only with proper education and leadership do we see responsible use of technology and games. And with these dark sides, come risks, and through the management of these risks students continue to learn and develop. Some of these risks may impact health, but with the right education, we can learn from it.

19870933155_3cf6f15607

Photo Credit: lolesports via Compfight cc

Concerns of tech on health

If a student or individual posts up on the Xbox or PC for a “gaming sesh (session)”, snacks will follow. Typically this is associated with the negative stigma of ‘unhealthy’ as “chips and pop” may be the choices selected at times. Some studies correlate gaming to obesity, however, to the right, we see two professional gamers who would not reflect “obesity” on the BMI. Even the frequency of snacking can be called into question on the health of students who game. There is a lot of confusion and different types of data on whether or not snacking negatively or positively affects our health. A common belief was that snacking with smaller meals throughout the day may be healthier, but these tests weren’t necessarily reputable. But, as always, it comes back to moderation and understanding balance. And when these discussions occur at home, through social media and technology (shown below) and at school, students can learn to find that balance with gaming, physical activity, and snacking… within reason.

Personal experience of health and gaming.

I would consider myself a strong believer in the lack of validity associated with personal opinion or “a study showed _______ may…” however I will speak to my personal experience about moderation and technology. Maintaining balance is an ongoing process, I’ve had days of too much screen time playing online games like Diablo II, Starcraft and Ragnarok Online and days of so much physical activity that I couldn’t walk the next day or was so concerned with eating properly I would not eat some food at family gatherings because it wasn’t “healthy enough”. Balance is pivotal. This extends even to the numerous ways that technology could be messing with your brain. Whether it be panicking without your phone and this example subsequently being misused as an excuse to call it a technology addiction. If you lost your car, cat, or kids you would panic too, does this correlate to addiction? The underlying problem is not technology, it is educating ourselves and students on this learning and growing process. Technology can be the vehicle in which problems occur, but correlation does not imply causation, and the potential effects cannot be instantly taken as fact, but carefully analyzed.

 

What do you think? Are games and technology making our kids unhealthy? Let me know!

-Logan Petlak

Just Google it? Just Google it right. Building from simple to complex.

26 Thursday May 2016

Posted by loganpetlak in ECI 830

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

complex question, connect, connections, dave cormier, digcit, digital citizenship, ECI 830, eci830, edtech, google, google it, memorization, psy, simple, simple question, teacher

Statement: Schools should not be teaching anything that can be googled.

logo_no_google

No2Google Logo via No2Google.com

 

Disagree.

The picture below isn’t necessarily related, but it was one of the pictures that came up when I searched, “Yes Google”, and I feel compelled to use it… it helps if you imagine Psy singing “Heeeeeyyyyyyy educators, Goo, Goo, Goo Goo. Google ain’t so bad”. This builds into my post, while illustrating both the problem and potential solution of simply “googling it”.

2012 iHeartRadio Music Festival - Day 1 - Show

LAS VEGAS, NV – SEPTEMBER 21: Rapper Psy performs onstage during the 2012 iHeartRadio Music Festival at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on September 21, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Isaac Brekken/Getty Images for Clear Channel retrieved via Business Insider)

Building from simple to complex googling.

Apart from the fact that so much can be Googled (and Googled and found mistakenly, as seen in picture above), the policing of instruction to avoid this next to impossible. However, like any potential problem-causer, it provides opportunity. How do we roll with this? How do we make a positive out of a negative? How do we build from simple to complex?

Terry Heick visited the thought that: “complex questions can’t be googled.” He went on to state that the answer Google provides can be a stopping point… and that it “… creates the illusion of accessibility,” or “obscures interdependence of information.” All valid. This can happen from simply using Google without education, but it reminded me of Dave Cormier’s details on using MOOCs appropriately through the cynefin framework and the rhizomatic learning… specifically that answering complex questions requires a particular approach to learning, that we as educators can seek to facilitate. Terry Heick then concludes with an awesome point that alludes to this need for educators and highlights the importance of teaching about proper use of Google and why Googlable (new word?) concepts should be taught in schools: “none of this (the above concerns) is Google’s fault.” Educators (and parents, for that matter) bear the responsibility to inform students of how to use technology like Google and Wikipedia to foster ideas and “cultivate curiousity”. So much can be Googled, so teach students to think critically, and recognize that every teacher can do this regardless of grade or specialization, as evidenced here, and through digital citizenship as Jeremy Black referenced.

Connecting critical thinking to maximizing Google.

“Before students can think critically, they need to have something to think about in their brains.” Ben Johnson made this comment, and used it to remind us of the importance of memorization and still keeping this as part of instruction. This speaks to the baseline knowledge that may come from using Google and other information sources. Finding the simple answers that “Googling it” may provide is the beginning to deeper parts of cognitive function in individuals, leading to fostering curiosity that I made reference to before. My phrase I tend to use in course outlines in senior science echoes the overlap between memory, critical thinking and curiosity: “in order to remember these terms, I will push you understand these terms.” This simply reflects my angle of looking at it, but there are many ways to aid in memory.

 

Final thoughts

Ultimately, the proper use of “Google” falls to educators to ensure students continue to ask complex questions and follow links to continue pursuing knowledge and continue to connect to new ideas with that new knowledge. Memory may play a dominant role in this process providing the fundamental information that sets a foundation to curiosity and challenging complex questions.

 

Agree? Disagree? Comment!

– Logan Petlak

EdTech in class doesn’t just enhance learning, it IS learning.

24 Tuesday May 2016

Posted by loganpetlak in ECI 830

≈ 3 Comments

Tags

adaptations, circle of courage, ECI 830, eci830, edtech, education technology, learning, modified, social media, student advocacy, teacher, technology in the classroom

Someone once said to me (yes, “said”, this definitely isn’t an assigned question I read), “Technology in the classroom enhances learning”. My first thought was, “yes, of course it is, it’s silly to think otherwise…”

 

petlak couros special.JPG

“Logan Petlak reflecting” via Camera of Samsung Galaxy S5

Then I reflected on it a bit…

 

…

..

.

.

..

…

nothing changed.

Statement still is accurate.

Why do I think that?

Well, I would argue that technology in the classroom today is learning. Regardless of the mechanisms students use to grasp the content embedded in our curriculum, technology plays a role one way or another. Be it delivering the students to educational institutions, how they get their nutrition for the day, or utilizing apps, programs, and devices to foster learning. Don’t get me wrong, there are problems within its use and a need for doubt, as Greg Toppo reminds us about humanity’s tendencies, “we always fret about technology”. We need the doubt to continue to grow and check ourselves, but we can’t deny the importance of technology and the learning inherent within.

The learning extends beyond simply curricular content. Technology is a force for connectedness in the modern world. When considering the circle of courage below, I could connect it to each of the dimensions of it connecting to Digital Citizenship. Belonging through social media, independence through responsible device use, generosity with commenting and sharing with others, and mastery in the procurement of curricular knowledge and outcomes.

CofCLabeled

Circle of Courage via BehaviorAdvisor.com

“using technology promotes sense of belonging and interactive participation in the classrooms for children with learning disabilities”  – Bryant and Bryant, 1998

The above quote speaks to me as a student advocate and reinforces the connection to the circle of courage. Developing that sense of belonging is consistent with it and is a critical part of development for all youth. And this belonging occurs in technology in the form of social media today.

 

Devil’s advocate: For the doubters.

Now I know there may be student advocates or doubters thinking… “But Logan, what about the students who are in the classroom who don’t have access to phones in BYOD (bring your own device) settings?” Fine. Devil’s advocate? Yes, some students will not have devices and this raises questions of further increasing the wealth and technology gap in the classroom. And yes, BYOD can exacerbate that, but in province-wide school divisions facing cutbacks or lean spending models being approached, can it afford purchasing devices for all, probably not, but some, be it through donation or purchase for need in the classroom. We are obligated as educators to keep students educationally literate and up to speed on current learning (technology, by extension), and we can minimize education spending whilst teaching students to use their own tools or hand-me-downs from another to stay connect an learn. If anything, the arguments against BYOD enforces the importance of devices in the classroom, the students need to at least learn about it here if not at home. Fact: Inequity will always be present between student in our schools… so as educators, rather than blanket money spending for every single student, follow the example of modified, adaptation and differentiated instruction and simply provide necessary tools to those that need it, and adjust instruction accordingly. And this doesn’t even consider the adaptations with technology, as Justine puts it, “all of the different technology can lead to equity for students in the classroom.”

But, Logan, what about ___________________”.

“The need more PD (professional development) for using EdTech” – “Most teachers want to learn to use educational technology effectively, but they lack the conceptual framework, time, computer access and support necessary to do so”. I have a hard time agreeing with this. Arguments can be made both ways, but for me, my biggest point of contention is “time”. One of the benefits of technology in terms of knowledge acquisition is that it takes less time looking online than travelling to a library or accessing a textbook. Maybe the information on how to use it isn’t there, however, so logic would denote there should be professional development for this. Interesting idea, but at what cost? And what aspect of technology do you target? Phones? Apps? Computers? Programs? Existing PD on working with language learners may utilize this technology anyway (if not, plan accordingly). Not to mention, if EdTech PD isn’t a perceived need in the entire division, is it worth making a specific priority? If most PD’s themselves incorporate tech, then this should happen unconsciously and simultaneously and not require increased spending (in tight budgets, as referenced before).

“Technology reducing performance” – Comparing “performance” in the critique of the use of technology, and what I fail to see is the assessment means… is it consistent with the circumstances in which learning took place? Same content, different written/technological delivery, same written assessment? I have a hard time seeing an immediate correlation without explicit details on the assessment means.

 

Final thoughts

As I said, we need doubts about what technology involves. But the fact is that learning and working today requires technology, and to ignore that or avoid it as an educator does a disservice to our students… especially if they come from a device-free background.

What are your thoughts? New technology can have new detriments or roadblocks to learning? But is it just the struggles of our times? Comment!

– Logan Petlak

 

Defining what exactly #EdTech is.

13 Friday May 2016

Posted by loganpetlak in ECI 830

≈ 4 Comments

Tags

ECI 830, eci830, edtech, education technology, social, social studies, technology

Google “Education Technology“. What you find is a definition from Wikipedia of  “Education Technology“:

“the study and ethical practice of facilitating learning and improving performance by creating, using, and managing appropriate technological processes and resources.”
Association for Educational Communications and Technology via Wikipedia.

As an individual exposed to the ideas of Education Technology (henceforth referred to as #edtech) this all makes sense… and, happily, it has the best interests of student learning in mind. But what about the definition of technology? Often we approach technology through the lens of computers and gadgets, but may not recognize the ideas and processes associated with #edtech. Case in point, upon finding an appropriate technology-related image, the picture below was the closest one to being accurate, but still rampant with electronic devices.

technology-662833_960_720

“Technology” from Google Images via Pixabay

To the left you see an iPod, TV, Camera, and some sort of electric hair clippers close to the nose… your stereotypical forms of technology.

What am I getting at?

Technology is so much deeper than we give it credit for. We assume it is simply a network of electronic connections and the concept of “technology”. It isn’t. Knowing a book can be used as a paperweight, or that Fonzie-style hitting the copier will fix it, that is technology. Further applying it to education, it considers adaptions and differentiation for students without an app or tablet. It has shaped history, not just in the creation of new weapons or medications, but also in ideas, beliefs and algorithms.

We make this separation with students, and this discussion is actually present in the Saskatchewan Social 9 curriculum! I tweeted about it one day when my students and I discussed it! But do we always remember it as adults and educators?

Social 9 talked about how technology is more than just a phone. It can be a process or idea. How does this relate to #edtech? #eci830

— Logan Petlak (@MrLPetlak) May 11, 2016

I hope to remind myself over the course of #eci830 the widespread implications of EdTech. And that the inherent discussions and debates within also represent educational technologies through the sharing and creation of ideas.

Honing in on our original definition of EdTech. I also know that EdTech does involve a variety of apps, programs and resources that enhance student learning and I’m extremely excited to continue to utilize them.

Thoughts? Comments? Questions?

Erin Benjamin shared the excitement of getting into this class in her blog, and I agree. She mentions connecting with colleagues and learning with others… I guess that’s nice too…

I’m Logan Petlak by the way.

Find out more about me here!

Logan Petlak

Incredible day! Photo courtesy Julia and Lucas Photography

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